Safety device for ladders



June 9, 1925. 1,541,402

F. A. SEAMAN SAFETY DEVICE FOR LADDERS Original Filed July 31 1922 IN V EN TOR. i kicficrfl. 620171420.

kw ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 9, 1925.

FLETCHER .A. SEAMAN, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR LADDERS.

Application filed July 31, 1922, Serial No. 578,560. Renewed April 22, 1925.

To all whom it may concern: 1

' Be it known that I, FLETCHER A. SEAMAN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroeand State of New York have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices for Ladders, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to ladder attachments and more particularly to the type which are secured to the ladder for the purpose of supporting such ladder at its up per end a a'y from the wall against which said attachment rests. An object of this invention is to provide a construction which will permit the upper end of a ladder to lie in front of a window or over an opening which. will not provide a firm support for such upper end. A further object of the invention is.to provide a supporting device which may also be utilized for sustaining a paint bucket or other devices employed by the user of the ladder in connection with his work.

To these and other ends, the invention consists of certain parts and combinations of parts, all of which will be hereinafter described, the novel features being pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the upper end of a ladder with two attachments secured thereto;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of a building showing the manner in which the attachment supports the upper end of the ladder in spaced relation to the wall;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the attachments;

Fig. 4c is a side view of one of the attachments; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the manner in which the attachments may be employed for supporting the upper end of the ladder against a wall and in front of a window.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 indicates the uprights of a ladder and'2 the rungs. Two of these supporting devices or attachments are employed on each ladder and these devices are duplicates of each other being so formed that eachdevice may be attached to either u right merely by reversing the position 0 the attachment. Each device embodies an anchoring member in the form of a sleeve 3 having an opening with a crosssection elongated in one direction. A supporting arm connects with this anchoring sleeve and embodies a straight central ortion 4 and two end portions 5 and 6 exten ing from opposite sides of the central portion 4. The end portion 5 is connected to the sleeve in line with the longer dimension of the cross section of the openin of the sleeve, whereas, the end portion 6 1s pointed so as to engage with the Wall to prevent slipping of the ladder.

The sleeve 3 is adapted to fit on an upright 1 of the ladder above the upper rung and in order to fasten the sleeve to the upright, clamping means is employed preferably in the form of two thumbscrews 7 and 8, the thumb screw 7 operating in the direction of the shorter dimension of the cross section of the opening, whereas the thumb screw 8 operates in the direction of the longer dimension of the cross section in the opening of the sleeve 3, thus permitting the upright to be clamped in two directions.

In order that the supporting arm 4 may serve for supporting a paint bucket without any danger of the bucket sliding or slipping on the arm, a collar 9 is provided surrounding said central portion and adjustably secured thereto by set screw 10. This collar is adapted to be engaged on its inner side by suspending hook 11 of a paint or other pail 12, or other suitable device sus pended from said hook 11.

With attachments such as described a workman may position the upper end of his ladder in front of the sash or window as the two supporting arms have their points 6 spaced apart at such a distance as to straddle the window frame as shown in Fig. 5. Numerous other desirable positions for the upper end of the ladder may be obtained. The supporting arms may engage the roof above the eavestrough so that the weight of the ladder does not rest against the eaves trough. A painter may paint a wall immediately in rear of the upper end of the ladder. The user may climb higher on the ladder than has been heretofore possible without any fear of the ladder slipping or turning sidewise.

'What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A ladder attachment comprising a sleeve having an opening. with a cross section elongated in one direction, a supporting arm having a straight central portion, two end portions extending from opposite sides of the central portion, one of said end ortions being connected with the sleeve in lme with the longer dimension of the cross section of the openin of the sleeve and theother end portion being pointed, and two clamping screws operating in said sleeve, one in the direction of the longer dimension of the cross section of the opening of the sleeve and the other in the direction of the shorter dimension.

2. A ladder attachment comprising a, sleeve having on opening with a cross seceer ee tion elongated in one direction, a supporting arm having or straight central portion and two end portions extending from opposite sides of the central portion at oblique angles to the central portion, one of said end portions being connected to the sleeve in line with the longer dimension of the cross section of the opening of the sleeve and the other of said end portions being pointed, and a stop collar arranged on the central portion of the supporting arm.

FLETGHER A. SEAMAN. 

